United States Department of Agriculture
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Access Procedures for Computer Resources - New Employees

The USDA has established legal and regulatory requirements that must be met for access to computer resources managed by Information Technology Services (ITS):

  • Read and sign the Information System Security Computer User Security Agreement, Form NRCS-IRM-02
  • Submit paperwork for a background investigation
  • Complete online Security Awareness Training within 60 days of employment

These requirements apply to permanent employees, temporary employees working over 30 days, contractors, volunteers, and affiliates/partners, including conservation district and Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) employees.

Procedures

Information about the new employee and access needed for their job is entered on Form NRCS-IRM-3, Information System Security Request for User Access to ITS Resources.

NRCS Employee Affiliate Employee
Human Resources (HR) Staff
Upon approval to hire a new employee, the Human Resources (HR) Staff will fill in the following fields in Part I:
  • Employee Name
  • Nickname (if known)
  • Work Title/Function
  • Organization
  • Justification for access - Enter the effective date of the employee's appointment
  • Supervisor Name

If available, enter empowHR identification (ID) number in Part II (ICAMS or Affiliate ID) or provide ID to the Information System Security Point of Contact (ISSPOC) when it has been created.

Send Form NRCS-IRM-3 to the ISSPOC. ISSPOC will contact the supervisor to review "Additional Information" to gather additional needs of the new employee.

NRCS/Conservation District Office
The new employee or sponsor will fill in the following fields in Part I (sponsor is someone at the office assisting the new employee such as a district manager, district conservationist, RC&D coordinator):
  • Employee Name
  • Nickname (if applicable)
  • Work Title/Function
  • Organization (service center city)
  • Partner/Affiliate/Company or Organization Name
  • Justification for access - Enter the effective date of the employee's appointment
  • Supervisor Name (sponsor)

Sponsor will review "Additional Information" and enter additional needs for the new employee. Sign and date as supervisor and send the Form NRCS-IRM-3 to the ISSPOC.
Additional Information
The middle section of Part I of Form NRCS-IRM-3 requests what access privileges the new employee will need.

Access Required:
Dial Up/VPN Account - Mark this item if the new employee will be traveling extensively or will be working in a stand-alone conservation district office. Note this reason under "Justification for access." A Virtual Private Network (VPN) account allows access to USDA resources from a non-USDA network connection.
LAN (Active Directory, Workstation, & Email) - Mark this item to indicate the employee will have a computer account.
Server Shared Drives - The new employee will be given server permissions for their duty station. If the new employee will have multi-county responsibilities, list the additional offices where they will be working.

Elevated Privileges:
Other Request - If new employee will use Toolkit or Program Contracts System (ProTracts), enter "Toolkit" and/or "ProTracts" here. When an eAuthentication (eAuth) account has been established, they will be given permission to their duty station county and any additional counties listed in "Server Shared Drives."

Justification for access:
List any additional needs of the new employee (example: access to files from a previous employee).
New Employee/Affiliate Employee
Read and sign Form NRCS-IRM-2. Send signed NRCS-IRM-2 to ISSPOC. Complete paperwork for a background investigation and submit to the NRCS area office assistant.
Area Office Assistant
Review background investigation paperwork for completeness. Work with new employee as needed to complete the paperwork, then send completed packet to the HR Staff in the state office.
HR Staff
Upon receipt of background investigation packet, review for completeness and submit for appropriate investigation. Record dates when investigation was initiated and completed in the security database. Progress of security investigations are reviewed quarterly.
ISSPOC
Upon receipt of the Forms NRCS-IRM-2 and NRCS-IRM-3 for a new employee, the ISSPOC will enter a System Authorization Access Request (SAAR) to request a computer account for the new employee and record information in the security database. ITS Staff will create the account and contact the new employee.

The ISSPOC will also keep the assistant state conservationist for field operations and the area office assistant informed of requests received for NRCS employees and affiliates in their area.

After the new employee receives their computer account and e-mail address, they will need to establish an eAuth account, register with AgLearn, and complete the annual computer security training.

Note: Forms NRCS-IRM-2 and NRCS-IRM-3 may be faxed to the ISSPOC (Fax: 785-823-4540).

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Last Modified: 01/09/2008